stories from

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

2013

A thief swiped a county-owned chain saw valued at $300 from an Athens-Clarke County Department of Transportation and Public Works truck parked in the 600 block of Spring Valley Road between 4 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m.

Athens-Clarke police said they arrested a man Tuesday night in connection with an apparent burglary attempt on Appleby Drive.
A man called 911 at 7:37 p.m. to report a burglary in progress, police said.

For 14 of the past 15 years, voting members of the North Georgia United Methodist Conference have chosen the Classic Center to host the group's annual three-day gathering. They plan to return to Athens again, at least until 2015.

ATLANTA - A handful of conservative groups released what they call a blueprint for prosperity Wednesday at the Capitol. The blueprint argues for reduced government spending, greater school choice and raising the sales tax to allow for a lower income tax.

Spayed or neutered dogs live longer than intact dogs and small dogs live longer than big ones. Just why, though, isn't clear.
Researchers at the University of Georgia are beginning to crack that mystery.

CANTON, Ga. - Authorities say an ex-police officer from Georgia who was injured in a train accident during a veterans parade in Texas lied about receiving a Purple Heart medal and has been arrested.
Cherokee County Sheriff's Lt.

ATLANTA - U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is calling for a hearing on the Atlanta VA Medical Center after two federal audits earlier this year detailed allegations of mismanagement of mental health programs and poor patient care linked to three deaths.

See Soul Rebels for a song
9:30 p.m. Friday, New Earth Music Hall, 227 W. Dougherty St.
Ok, this is serious, or else it's a mistake, because New Orleans' Soul Rebels are playing for the measly door price of $5.

OPENING THIS WEEK
BEFORE MIDNIGHT: Nine years after a fateful rendezvous in Paris and nearly two decades since their first meeting, an American writer and a French environmentalist once again spend an evening discussing life and love.

I don't recall if AthFest produced a club crawl mixtape last year. If it did, I missed it. But I'm sitting here, earbuds in, quietly listening at my Banner-Herald desk and wishing this mixtape was also the AthFest compilation.

If Batman suddenly gave up crime fighting to join a rock band, that band probably would be the dark and menacing Rolling Stones. Superman would be a Beatle. Everybody loves the Beatles, and everybody loves Superman.

NEW YORK — The Earth has been coming to an end with comic frequency. We've seen tsunamis sweep the oceans ("2012"), the world freeze over ("The Day After Tomorrow") and a rogue planet bear down ("Melancholia"). So many have been patrolling a desolate Earth — Will Smith ("After Earth"), Tom Cruise ("Oblivion"), a cute cleanup robot ("WALL-E") — that even the post-apocalyptic world is getting crowded.

NEW YORK — Laura Radocaj of Vero Beach, Fla., was warned when she was pregnant with twins that motherhood would be harder than she imagined — especially because she planned to go back to work while the twins were still babies. "But this has been the easiest transition," said Radocaj, 28, who works from home in corporate communications.

CLEVELAND — A man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade pleaded not guilty Wednesday to hundreds of rape and kidnapping charges, and the defense hinted at avoiding a trial with a plea deal if the death penalty were ruled out.

CAYO COCO, Cuba — After Cuban scientists studied the effects of climate change on this island's 3,500 miles (5,630 kilometers) of coastline, their discoveries were so alarming that officials didn't share the results with the public to avoid causing panic.

ISTANBUL — Turkey's government on Wednesday offered a first concrete gesture aimed at ending nearly two weeks of street protests, proposing a referendum on a development project in Istanbul that triggered demonstrations that have become the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that four members of Army special forces in Tripoli were never told to stand down after last year's deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, disputing a former top diplomat's claim that the unit might have helped Americans under siege.

LOS ANGELES — The head of AEG Live LLC told jurors Wednesday that he knew Michael Jackson as a sophisticated, forceful businessman and not the drugged-up performer who's been described throughout an ongoing civil trial filed over the singer's untimely death.

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels, including Sunni extremists, stormed a village and battled pro-regime militiamen, killing more than 60 Shiite fighters and civilians in an attack steeped in the sectarian hatreds that increasingly characterize the civil war, activists said Wednesday.

BOSTON — Reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger was a "hands-on killer" responsible for "murder and mayhem" in Boston for almost 30 years, a federal prosecutor told a jury Wednesday as Bulger's highly anticipated racketeering trial began.

CHICAGO — An unusually massive line of storms packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds was rolling through the Midwest on Wednesday and could affect more than one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland.

SANFORD, Fla. — Attorneys trying to seat a jury in George Zimmerman's trial for shooting an unarmed teen stopped questioning a white man in his 20s Wednesday after he gave answers that indicated he wouldn't be impartial.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It's the age old and seemingly answerless question: What in the world is my dog thinking? And one that has spawned a growing market not only of scientific research but of everything from decks of pet tarot cards to television and radio shows and books by pet psychics and animal trainers.

ATLANTA — Doctors should consider giving a daily AIDS drug to another high risk group to help prevent infections — people who shoot heroin, methamphetamines or other injection drugs, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.

HOUSTON - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to provide additional money to help rebuild the small Texas town where a deadly fertilizer plant explosion leveled numerous homes and a school, and killed 15 people.

MINNEAPOLIS - A rare copy of the comic book featuring Superman's first appearance that went undiscovered for over 70 years in the insulation of a Minnesota house has sold for $175,000.
The high bidder for the copy of Action Comics No.

TOKYO - Japan's Jiroemon Kimura, who had been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person and the oldest man ever, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 116. Kimura, of Kyotango, Japan, was born April 19, 1897.

WASHINGTON - Using voice commands to send text messages and emails from behind the wheel, which is marketed as a safer alternative for drivers, actually is more distracting and dangerous than simply talking on a cellphone, a new AAA study found.

Today's agenda for the annual meeting of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church includes the following item: "Future Sites of Annual Conference/ June 10-12, 2014 - The Classic Center/ 2015 - The Classic Center.

Suppose I got a call from a polling company asking me a series of factual questions about political issues. Say they asked me about how much of the federal budget was spent servicing the national debt. The correct answer is about 6.

Recent discussion of a high-speed commuter rail link between Atlanta and Charlotte, and the possibility that the route might come through Athens, brings to mind the potential for a rail link between Athens and Atlanta.

SAN ANTONIO - Game 4 of the NBA Finals will tell more about the Miami Heat than a 66-win regular season ever could.
Any questions about LeBron James and the Heat were supposed to have been answered by now.

SAN DIEGO - The Atlanta Braves did everything they could against the San Diego Padres in a three-game series, except win.
They worked over Petco Park as best they could, outhitting the Padres in every game, finishing ahead 25-20 overall.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is not ruling out the possibility of adding another free agent even though he likes what he has seen of his team through offseason workouts.

The Northeast Georgia Fellowship of Christian Athletes Touchdown Club has put together some new offerings for Athens-area high school football teams, including a preseason combine and a post-season senior all-star game.

The University of Georgia will spotlight its arts programs and venues during a nine-day festival in November that includes concerts, theater and dance performances, art exhibitions, poetry readings, film festivals, discussions on the arts and creativity, and more.